Jesus, Be The Center

Lyrics

[Intro]

I have let the urgent
Crowd out what is true
Filled my days with motion
And left no room for You

So before I ask for anything
Before I make another move
Jesus, be the center
Of everything I do

[Verse 1]

I know how to speak the language
How to lift my hands on cue
How to sound like I am yielded
While my private plans exclude You

I have used Your name for comfort
Then ignored Your harder words
Wanted blessing without changing
Wanted peace without surrender

But You did not come to circle
The life I had already drawn
You came asking for the middle
Where every other love is formed

[Pre-Chorus]

Not beside my ambition
Not beneath my need for praise
Take the seat I keep protecting
Take the first place

[Chorus]

Jesus, be the center
Not a part of what I build
Be the reason, be the measure
Be the voice above my will

Jesus, be the center
When the room is full or still
Let my whole life turn around You
Until nothing else is king

[Verse 2]

Be the center of my language
When irritation makes me sharp
Be the center of my spending
When desire outruns my heart

Be the center of my friendships
Who I follow, who I trust
Be the center of my marriage
When being right feels more important than love

Be the center of my labor
When success begins to call
Keep me from gaining every platform
While my inner life grows small

When applause becomes addictive
And results become my worth
Pull me back to quiet obedience
Where Your kingdom starts its work

[Pre-Chorus]

Not the image people notice
Not the version they applaud
Let the life behind the curtain
Still belong to God

[Chorus]

Jesus, be the center
Not a part of what I build
Be the reason, be the measure
Be the voice above my will

Jesus, be the center
When the room is full or still
Let my whole life turn around You
Until nothing else is king

[Bridge]

When I make a good thing ultimate
Move it from the throne

When I call my fear discernment
Expose what fear has done

When I use control for safety
Teach my hands release

When I chase a public victory
At the cost of private peace

When my politics become louder
Than the mercy in Your word

When tradition gets defended
More than people who are hurt

When I know the proper answers
But refuse the narrow way

Do not let me sing around You
While my life looks away

[Build]

Center of my mornings
Center of my nights
Center of the conversations
No one else can supervise

Center of my victories
Center of my loss
Center of the easy road
And center of the cost

Take the throne
Take the room
Take the plans I call my own

Take the first
Take the last
Take the future, take the past

[Final Chorus]

Jesus, be the center
Till my habits match my songs
Till forgiveness comes more quickly
And my pride is not so strong

Jesus, be the center
Till compassion shapes my sight
Till I recognize Your image
In the people I would pass by

Jesus, be the center
Not a symbol on the wall
Be the living Lord within me
Be the meaning of it all

Let my whole life turn around You
Every hidden, public thing

Jesus, be the center
Until nothing else is king

[Outro]

I have let the urgent
Crowd out what is true

So I am clearing out the middle

Jesus
It belongs to You